CNN and other news outlets are reporting the death of Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonin Scalia.
From CNN:
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has died at the age of 79, a government source and a family friend told CNN on Saturday.
Scalia died in his sleep during a visit to Texas.
A government official said Scalia went to bed Friday night and told friends he wasn’t feeling well. Saturday morning, he didn’t get up for breakfast. And the group he was with for a hunting trip left without him.
Someone at the ranch went in to check on him and found him unresponsive.
Photos from the ranch are on My San Antonio.
Scalia, one of the court’s most conservative members, had for several years been decrying the demise of the Constitution, calling it “dead, dead, dead.” He was a strong pro-life presence on the court.
Presidential appointments
Americans alternately hope and fear presidential court appointments, depending on their political preferences. Democrats hope for a liberal appointment to protect Roe v Wade, while Republicans hope for conservative appointments to overturn the same. Last year’s Obergefell decision is a classic example of how appointments affect outcomes.
Whether or not President Obama will be able to get a justice through this senate will be one of his biggest challenges.
The process consists of two parts: a committee approval, and the full senate. The current senate is composed of 54 Republicans, 45 Democrats, and Bernie Sanders. A simple majority of senators present will confirm or reject.
Perhaps Marco Rubio can make it to the vote.
Barack Obama
President Obama is as liberal on the issue of abortion as any president or presidential candidate we’ve ever had. While Republicans have often been accused of playing politics with abortion–courting religious conservatives, then ignoring the issue after being elected–I seriously doubt Obama would appoint any one who is not fully supportive of Roe.
I could not disagree more with Obama’s position on abortion. This appointment truly could have years of repercussions on unborn Americans.
Strategy
Which leads to this question: Why should pro-lifers rely on appointment of supremes as their major strategy? It has been a long time since 1973 and we have yet to see the right balance at the right time to overturn Roe. It takes more than the right balance of justices. There has to be a case before the court on which they can rule.
The court does not just decide out of the clear blue sky to overturn a ruling.
Thankfully many pro-lifers have stopped waiting on the Supreme Court two-step, and have poured millions into pregnancy care centers, clothes for kids, food for moms, free medical care, adoption and on and on and on.
The truth is we don’t need a Supreme Court ruling to minister to expectant mom’s across this country. All we need is the heart and mind of Jesus.
